When asked whether the rising bond yield could prompt the government to raise interest rates on small savings schemes from April 1, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said, “No, not in this quarter.”

Since 2016, the government has linked the small savings deposit rate with the benchmark Government Securities (G-Sec) rate.

For the January-March quarter, the government had reduced interest rates on such schemes by 0.2 percentage points.